Bamboo - a rapidly renewable resource for LEED certification

May 27, 6:35 PMDC Green Building ExaminerChris Moline, LEED AP

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The above is a Teragren product - Signature Naturals - in the horizontal,
natural format.

   Bamboo qualifies as a rapidly-renewable resource for LEED certification under Materials and Resources (MR) Credit 6.  If that has your attention, then you know LEED. Certain bamboo lines are also made with no formaldehyde, thereby contributing to EQ 4.4 - Low Emitting Materials. Further, a floating installation of certain types of bamboo eliminates the need for adhesives that may contain VOC's. Following is some basic information regarding bamboo and LEED certification:

   A rapidly renewable resource is a natural resource that replenishes itself by natural processes quickly. For LEED purposes, the turnaround must be less than 10 years. The bamboo plant is considered rapidly renewable because when harvested sustainably the plant re-grows from the same root stalk, maturing in just a few years. By comparison, oak and maple trees take far longer to grow, are incapable of re-growing from the same plant, and can be harvested only once.

   Bamboo is harder than red oak, some having a Janka rating as high as 1800 (Teragren natural Synergy line). The Janka rating system is a standardized test used to indicate hardness of wood flooring by measuring the force required to embed in the wood a .444-inch steel ball to a depth of half the ball's diameter. Red oak falls in at just under 1500.
Strand bamboo, however, is over 2000 but is a fiber composite that does not occur naturally. 

   Bamboo is not a wood, it's technically a grass, but it is more moisture stable than any hardwood (other than mesquite), and it finishes off with a very smooth finished layer. One of the caveats with bamboo is that an inferior manufacturing process can neutralize the hardness benefits of the material itself. A poor-quality topcoat will scratch no matter how durable the flooring. It would be akin to putting a coating of cheap polyurethane on the surface of a diamond... tough, but you'll see the scratches in the wear layer before you ever mar the substrate.

   The two premium bamboo manufacturers are Teragren and Natural Cork. Teragren represents the pioneer in bamboo flooring in North America.